The Empire
An imperial state that controlled most of the world during the third age.
Structure
The empire was ruled by the Empress (or Emperor) through the Imperial council and the Grand Dukes. Each Grand Duke ran a country sized area and the Imperial council controlled the military and anything that affected more than one duchy. The position of Grand Duke was hereditary though the Empress could replace a duke or refuse to allow their children to inherit the position. The position of Empress was not technically hereditary, but since each ruler tended to designate one of their children as the next in line (with the consent of the council) it generally looked that way.
The council consisted of various nobles who were each given a ministry to look after. These included:
- Ministry of Justice.
- Ministry of Warfare.
- Ministry of Taxation.
- Ministry of Transport.
- Ministry of Supplies.
History
The empire was formed under the guidance of the elves and was supposedly intended to help guide the other races into a period of peaceful cooperation. We now suspect that it was there to help the elves and dwarves maintain control of the other races. Initially it was little more than agreement (enforced by the elves) that a distant person was ultimately in charge. There was little contact between many of the settlements in the empire apart from through magical means. Reaching across the globe, it encompassed all the civilised lands excepting those of the elves and the dwarves. While technically united under a single banner, each country sized region was relatively autonomous, free to create laws and alter taxation within limits set by the Imperial Court. In many cases it took decades before neighbouring regions had direct contact with each other. As populations increased the ambitions of the Grand Dukes were partly kept in check by the army, with forces regularly rotated between areas to prevent any attachments forming between governors and generals. Even so, there was rarely a year without some form of rebellion or call for independence.
Disbandment
Despite it's global reach and military power, The Empire was unprepared for the second Years of Darkness. This is now widely believed to have been deliberate on the part of the elves so that they and the dwarves would be the only powers to survive. Although the Empire didn't survive, it's armies did buy enough time for various shelters to be constructed, enabling the survival of at least some of it's people.
Military
Imperial Army
Soldiers were recruited and trained for the Empire across the world. Each duchy was obliged to provide the resources to support and train troops though they had no direct control over these forces. The training and equipment was standard for the majority of forces across the Empire, although some nations operated specialised training facilties for exceptional soldiers like the Beasthunters. When the armies weren't being used to put down rebellions, they were rotated between recruitment and training, guarding the empire's borders, and patrolling the highways. Despite the lack of conflict between nations, there were still threats from the savage races to help keep the military's edge. Several attempts were made to remove the threat of the savage races, but each campaign proved too costly to sustain. Eventually the imperial court decided that fortifying the borders was more cost effective in both gold and lives.Imperial Navy
With few external threats the Imperial Navy was mostly focused on catching smugglers and pirates. As a result, most of their warships were designed to emphasise speed. The main weapons of such ships were archers and mages. Ship-based battlemages were better paid than those assigned to the army as they needed a wider range of skills. The largest ships in the navy were the troop transports which were almost constantly at sea moving companies between the various regions.Technological Level
Magic was heavily controlled in the empire as no one wanted another mage tearing open a portal to the abyss. Research became focused on how magic works rather than seeing what could be done with it. This change in direction helped drive new developments in spellcasting, achieving the same results from spells with less effort from the caster, and even allowing arcane casters to find ways to assist with healing.
This move to investigating the why and how of things also gave rise to institutions that were focused on research and teaching. It became a mark of distinction for a settlement or region to have one, and the leaders of such institutions were frequent visitors to the halls of power.
The healier's craft saw numerous advancements under the Empire, with non-clerical healers able to treat diseases, and new remedies being discovered on a regular basis. Centre's dedicated to healing were created like Saint's Trial in Shaon where members of multiple disciplines could meet and work together on treatments. These advances proved vital when Healer's Curse, a pox like disease that prevents clerics from curing diseases, swept through the temples.
With the help of the elves a new industry focused on creating simple magical items was created. While none of the effects created by these items were especially powerful, the elven techniques reduced the cost of such things so that they could be purchased by the moderately well off.
Religion
While religions were not discouraged, the power of the temples was much reduced compared to previous ages. The elves had observed the effect of having clerics in too high a position of authority multiple times over the centuries, and they provided sufficient warning to discourage the rise of any theocracies. Without the resources of entire countries under their direct control, even the more belligerent churches were forced to curtail their warmongering and focus on caring for their followers rather than sending them into pointless battles.
Foreign Relations
Elven Nations
For the first couple of centuries after founding the Empire had cordial relations with the elven lands. The populace were still grateful to the elves for saving them from the years of darkness and the aid in rebuilding. However, as the years went by, a growing number of imperials began to feel that the elves were hiding something. There was talk of conspiracies, of vocal detractors of the elves suddenly disappearomg, and research suppressed or destroyed because it didn't align with the elves' goals. This began to influence the relationship between the empire and the elves, and tensions were running high by the time the second years of darkness arrived.Dwarven Lands
The Empire also had cordial relations with the dwarves, and these lasted longer than with the elves. There was a brisk trade between the lands, and several dwarf families were persuaded to move to the Empire to share their skill in construction and crafting. What goodwill there was towards the dwarves evaporated at the start of the years of darkness as they retreated to their mountain cities and refused to lend any aid to the Empire.Education
The Imperial Court dictated that every person in the Empire must be able to read, do basic sums, and have a basic understanding of how to keep themselves healthy. In most cases the bare minimum was done to achieve this, though some of the Grand Dukes insisted on a more comprehensive education for their people. This drive towards achieving universal literacy and numeracy skills was not to help improve the lives of the Empire's citizens. It was in order to ensure they could read imperial decrees and tax notices and so they would have no excuse for not understanding how much they had to pay in taxes.
With most people able to read the concept of daily news sheets became popular in the regions that allowed them. Novels and histories also became popular, though the elven advisors in every region insisted that every book purporting to tell the truth had to be vetted by their own historians in order to prevent prejudice and distorted facts from being spread.
DISBANDED/DISSOLVED
Order brings peace
9 Lomar 239 of the Third Age - 10 Saum 561 of the Third Age
Type
Geopolitical, Empire
Government System
Dictatorship
Currency
Currency was one of the things not under the control of the Grand Dukes. The only coins permitted to be used in transactions were those minted by the imperial treasury. The purity, weights, designs, and milling were all standardised so that every region used the same. Coins were minted in copper, silver, and gold, with 16 coppers to a silver, and 32 silver to a gold. The number of coins available was also strictly controlled, and the few Grand Dukes who tried to pressure their region's mint into producing more were harshly punished.
Larger sums were typically exchanged using letters of credit backed by a network of influential counting houses.
Legislative Body
Although each of the Grand Dukes could set laws in their own regions, there were several centralised laws that originated with the Imperial Court. These included laws around:
- Murder
- Treason
- Counterfeiting
Controlled Territories
Ostracized Doomsayers
While the ciricle were trying to save the people of the empire they were treated as being paranoid and delusional
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